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Wednesday, November 28, 2007

New president and chief operating officer responsible for global operations.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Internationally recognized timeshare veteran joins leading hospitality company Las Vegas - November 27 2007 - Diamond Resorts International® (DRI) has announced the recent appointment of vacation ownership veteran Simon Crawford-Welch, Ph.D., RRP, to the position of president and chief operating officer responsible for global operations.

Crawford-Welch has held several executive positions in international sales, marketing and operations in all aspects of the leisure industry and has over 20 years of experience in the vacation ownership industry. He holds a doctorate degree with an emphasis in hospitality marketing and strategic management and is the author of dozens of articles and a textbook on the subjects of marketing and strategic management.In his new position, Crawford-Welch will guide DRI team members worldwide toward the vision of becoming a unified and customer-centric hospitality brand. "Simon is the perfect candidate to lead our company," says Stephen J. Cloobeck, Chairman and CEO of Diamond Resorts International®. "His experience, integrity, professionalism and honesty are invaluable to building Diamond Resorts International® as the global leader in the vacation ownership industry."

The American Resort Development Associations (ARDA)-where he served on the Board of Directors and the Association's Executive Committee-has recognized Crawford-Welch for his achievements in the industry. "Simon has a rich history in leadership roles at ARDA, and he has played a valuable role in timeshare becoming a viable and valuable consumer product," says Howard C. Nusbaum, ARDA's president and CEO. "His experience, expertise, and commitment to the ethical sales and marketing of timeshare make him an outstanding addition to the team at Diamond Resorts International®."

Crawford-Welch's vision for the company is equally ambitious. "I'm excited to join such an innovative organization," he says. "We're in the process of revolutionizing the company, building an organization based on transparency, responsibility, accountability and our customers' needs. By effectively delivering on our brand promise of simplicity, choice and comfort to our more than 360,000 members, Diamond Resorts International® will become the envy of our industry."

Diamond Resorts International®, based in Las Vegas, Nev., is one of the largest vacation ownership companies in the world with nearly 100 branded and affiliated resorts throughout the continental United States and Hawaii, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe. Offering simplicity, choice and comfort to its more than 360,000 owners through the branded-service of more than 5,000 team members worldwide, Diamond Resorts International® is dedicated to providing its guests with effortless and relaxing vacation experiences. For more information, please visit www.DiamondResorts.com

3 comments:

I am having insumountable problems with Sunterra and consequently Im am not able to have my vacation as hoped. I would be grateful if you could pass this email to the new CEO as an act of desperation to see if the problems can be sorted. My acount no is 33695 and my name is Owen Brown and reside in the UK.Thanks you for your assistance. My contact details are 44-121 421 1349 or 44 788-857075.

I am so frustrated with Diamond resorts right now. How hard is it to properly pay off an account?. On Feb 15th,2008 I called up Diamond and payed off my account of over 7,000 dollars. Having moved I had also closed the bank account that my payments were coming from. Having payed off my account I never imagined that it would so difficult. It seems that Diamond totally screwed up my account and even though I had made the payoff on the 15th they put a credit back on my card of 128.53 on Feb. 20th. I was told because my payment was usually withdrawn on the 18th of the month that they "proactivly" deposited the 128.53 to my new bank account so that when the payment on the 18th came through that it would balance out. Well that account was closed before the 18th so they did not get thier "expected' payment even though the account was paid off. It took 2+ weeks with me on the phone for over 2hrs during this period before they could finally tell me that this is what happened after telling me other reasons why I owed them the money. I have no dispute with returning the 128.53, my problem is they claim that I also owe them 30 dollars because they didnt get the money from my original account and they had already put that money in my new account! Now I did not ask them to put the 128.53 dollars in my new account and this was done on the 20th wich is AFTER the 18th when the payment would have been posted. I have talked to an account Manager by the name of Bill Durso and he was a stick in the mudd claiming I owe him the 30dollars for diamonds mistake. I asked for his supervisor, he informed me her name is Joan VanHoff director of operations. She was no longer in the office but he said she will call me tomarrow. I will see how that goes but I really dont expect anything different so in my frustration I am writing this message hoping that someone higher up that after paying off an account of over 7,000 dollars it is not good business to try and squeeze and extra 30 dollars for something that is diamonds fault. If that person reads this they can contact me at 808-226-6186